Africa Cup of Nations winners: History, finals, all-time champions of AFCON

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The Africa Cup of Nations is always entertaining and its vivid history has provided so many memorable moments over nearly 70 years of play.

MORE — AFCON 2025 schedule, results

AFCON is Africa's continental showcase and gives no guarantees to the favorites as big names like Mohamed Salah and Didier Drogba have not claimed the top honors at the tournament.

Salah, of course, can still do so and Egypt is still alive for AFCON 2025 glory.

Here's a bit of history on the Africa Cup of Nations.

When and where are the next AFCON tournaments?

AFCON 2027 will be staged in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda in June and July of 2027. It will be the final AFCON before the tournament goes to a quadrennial calendar beginning in 2028.

The 2028 tournament is expected to take place in the summer. The host is yet to be revealed, and a number of nations are bidding to host a tournament between 2028 and 2036: Angola, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, Morocco, and Egypt.

Who have won the most AFCON titles?

Egypt have won the most titles (7) and played in the most finals (10).

Here is the list of all-time winners, which explanations for how CAF classifies renamed winners.

Egypt, 7 (one as United Arab Republic in 1959)
Cameroon, 5
Ghana, 4
Nigeria, 3
ivory Coast, 3
Algeria, 2
DR Congo, 2 (as Congo-Kinshasa in 1968 and Zaire in 1974)
Zambia, 1
Tunisia, 1
Sudan, 1
Senegal, 1
South Africa, 1
Ethiopia, 1
Morocco, 1
Congo, 1 (as PR Congo in 1972)

Who has scored the most goals in AFCON history?

Samuel Eto'o, Cameroon — 18 goals in 29 matches
Laurent Pokou, Ivory Coast — 14 goals in 12 matches
Rashidi Yekini, Nigeria — 13 goals in 20 matches
Hassan El-Shazly, Egypt — 12 goals in eight matches
Patrick Mboma, Cameroon —11 goals in 17 matches
Hossam Hassan, Egypt — 11 goals in 21 matches
Didier Drogba, Ivory Coast — 11 goals in 24 matches
Ndaye Mulamba, DR Congo — 10 goals in 10 games
Francileudo Santos, Tunisia — 10 goals in 12 games
Joel Tiehl, Ivory Coast — 10 goals in 15 games
Mengistu Worku, Ethiopia — 10 goals in17 games
Kalusha Bwalya, Zambia — 10 goals in 23 games
Sadio Mane, Senegal — 10 goals in 23 games
Andre Ayew, Ghana — 10 goals in 36 games

Other notable names: Mohamed Salah, Egypt (9 goals), Riyad Mahrez, Algeria (9 goals), Vincent Aboubakar, Cameroon (9 goals), Asamoah Gyan, Ghana (8 goals), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabon (7 goals), Roger Milla, Cameroon (7 goals), Yaya Toure, Ivory Coast (6 goals).

Africa Cup of Nations all-time finals, winners

1957: Egypt defeat Ethiopia 4-0 in Sudan
1959: United Arab Republic win round-robin tournament in United Arab Republic
1962: Ethiopia defeat United Arab Republic 4-2 (aet) in Ethiopia
1963: Ghana defeat Sudan 3-0 in Ghana
1965: Ghana defeat Tunisia 3-2 (aet) in Tunisia
1968: Congo-Kinshasa defeat Ghana 1-0 in Ethiopia
1970: Sudan defeat Ghana 1-0 in Sudan
1972: PR Congo defeat Mali 3-2 in Cameroon
1974: Zaire defeat Zambia 2-2, 2-0 (replay) in Egypt
1976: Morocco win round-robin tournament in Ethiopia
1978: Ghana defeat Uganda 2-0 in Ghana
1980: Nigeria defeat Algeria 3-0 in Nigeria
1982: Ghana defeat Libya 1-1 (7-6 pens) in Libya
1984: Cameroon defeat Nigeria 3-1 in Ivory Coast
1986: Egypt defeat Cameroon 0-0 (5-4 pens) in Egypt
1988: Cameroon defeat Nigeria 1-0 in Morocco
1990: Algeria defeat Nigeria 1-0 in Algeria
1992: Ivory Coast defeat Ghana 0-0 (11-10 pens) in Senegal
1994: Nigeria defeat Zambia 2-1 in Tunisia
1996: South Africa defeat Tunisia 2-0 in South Africa
1998: Egypt defeat South Africa 2-0 in Burkina Faso
2000: Cameroon defeat Nigeria 2-2 (4-3 pens) in Nigeria
2002: Cameroon defeat Senegal 0-0 (3-2 pens) in Mali
2004: Tunisia defeat Morocco 2-1 in Tunisia
2006: Egypt defeat Ivory Coast 0-0 (4-2 pens) in Egypt
2008: Egypt defeat Cameroon 1-0 in Ghana
2010: Egypt defeat Ghana 1-0 in Angola
2012: Zambia defeat Ivory Coast 0-0 (8-7 pens) in Gabon
2013: Nigeria defeat Burkina Faso 1-0 in South Africa
2015: Ivory Coast defeat Ghana 0-0 (9-8 pens) in Equatorial Guinea
2017: Cameroon defeat Egypt 2-1 in Gabon
2019: Algeria defeat Senegal 1-0 in Egypt
2021: Senegal defeat Egypt 0-0 (4-2 pens) in Cameroon
2023: Ivory Coast defeat Nigeria 2-1 in Ivory Coast
2025: Ongoing in Morocco